The third learning and teaching activities were organised by the partner school Escola Secundária Jaime Moniz, in Funchal, Madeira, in Portugal, from February 26th to March 1st 2024.
Monday, February 26th 2024
– Musical moment
– Welcome speech by the school’s headmistress
– Presentation of the delegations
– Visiting the host school (Peddy-paper)
Visit to 3D Fun Art Museum
One of the activities, on 26th February, was a visit to explore the 3D Fun Art Museum. This museum is an interactive 3D painting presentation offering stunning photograph opportunities and incredible fun to its visitors.
Being this project about photography, it was a must to visit it.
The students were divided into five groups and they were asked to take one picture for each one of the following topics: My worst nightmare…; I dreamt of…; I was not expecting this!!; and Heaven is….
It was a really fun afternoon in which the participants had the opportunity to use their imagination and expand their creativity, while collaborating with and getting to know each other better!
Tuesday, February 27th 2024
Visiting the exhibition “The artificial lightening in photography”, at Largo do Museu
Workshop – Street Photography
Street Photography – outdoor activity
One of the activities, on 27th February, was a workshop about street and landscape photography, led by Carlos Rodrigues, a Visual Arts teacher in our school. Besides Geometry, Carlos also teaches Multimedia and Photography. In his workshop, he presented photography as a means of visual communication and the things we should be aware of when taking a picture. Carlos addressed the angles, the frames, the orientation and the composition.
The practical part of the workshop took place in Funchal Old Town. The students were divided in groups and had access to the instructions on their mobile phones. There were four areas of interest, with information and guidance on the proposed task. Needless to say that the participants applied what they had learnt and gave wings to their creativity. The result were wonderful pictures of that part of the city. After that, the teachers selected the groups’ best pictures and, from those, the best three photos were chosen. The authors of the photos won a prize. It was a great example of collaborative work and, once again, the students had the opportunity to visit some parts of Funchal, use images to present their perspective of the surroundings, as well as create bonds.
Guided visit to Atelier Vicente’s – Photography Museum of Madeira
Wednesday, February 28th 2024
Visiting the eastern part of the Island (Pico do Areeiro, Ribeiro Frio – Balcões (Levada walk), Faial (sightseeing point), Santana, Caniçal – Ponta de São Lourenço, Machico)
Thursday, February 29th 2024
Visiting the western part of the Island (Cabo Girão, São Vicente, Seixal (sightseeing point – Véu da Noiva), Chão da Ribeira, Porto Moniz, Paúl da Serra – Fanal, Encumeada)
Lunch – picnic at a traditional cottage (Chão da Ribeira) (Espetada)
Friday, March 1st 2024
– Presenting the group’s works
– Awards ceremony
– Certificates
– Farewell speech by the school’s headmistress – Musical moment
MADEIRA
– The archipelago of Madeira has 2 inhabited islands, Madeira and Porto Santo, and 2 groups of uninhabited islands, Desertas and Selvagens, both of which are natural preserves.
– The archipelago is an autonomous region, with its own regional president, government and parliament, so it has political and administrative autonomy.
– Geomorphologically, Porto Santo is 8 million years old and Madeira 5 million years old.
– There are some literary references to the two islands, back then called the “Isles of the Blessed”, which date back to the military commander Quintus Sertorius (126-73 BC). There is also archaeological evidence that suggests that the islands were visited by the Vikings between 900 and 1030 AC. The islands were shown on maps as early as 1339.
– Madeira was rediscovered in 1419, by captains Tristão Vaz Teixeira, João Gonçalves Zarco and Bartolomeu Perestrelo.
– The first settlers were the families of the three captains, members of the gentry and former inmates. The majority of the following settlers were fishermen and farmers, looking to escape the Black Death that had ravaged Portugal and trying to find good farmlands that weren’t controlled by the nobility, as in continental Portugal.
– Madeira = Portuguese word for wood (the island was uninhabited at the time of discovery and covered in trees, hence the name).
– The archipelago has 801km2 and 251.060 inhabitants (in 2021), half of which lives in or around Funchal, the capital city, that dates back to 1508.
– It is located 970km from Lisbon, 700km from the African Coast and 450km from the Canary Islands and at the same latitude as Casablanca, Morocco.
– It has a GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of 2.4%, after Lisbon (36%), the north of Portugal (29.7%), the centre of Portugal (18.8%), Alentejo (6.3%) and Algarve with 4.8%. The Azores detain 2.1% of the GDP.
– Portugal has the 5th largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ) within Europe, 3rd largest of the EU and the 20th largest EEZ in the world, because of the two archipelagos, Madeira and the Azores. (Exclusive Economic Zone is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind)
– Currently, the great engine of the Madeira’s economy is tourism, as Madeira is one of the most attractive destinations in Europe. In agriculture, banana production (mainly directed at regional and national consumption), flowers and the famous Madeira wine also make an important contribution to the regional economy.
– Industrial activity in the Madeira Autonomous Region has become increasingly diverse, highlighting small industries oriented to local consumption (pasta, dairy products, production and packaging of sugar, cement, among others) and the craft sector: Madeira embroidery, tapestry and wicker items.
– The International Business Centre of Madeira, a free trade zone, has attracted foreign direct investment through a set of incentives, mainly tax-related.
– The late fifteenth-century cathedral is one of the few structures that survives virtually intact since the early period of the colonization of Madeira. The patron of the Gothic style cathedral is Our Lady of the Assumption. The roof of the cathedral features a Mudéjar-inspired design and is of cedar wood. The wooden choir stalls depict prophets, saints and apostles in 16th-century garb. In the decorative details of the seats and armrests, aspects of Madeira’s life can also be seen, such as cherubs carrying a bunch of bananas or a wineskin. The cathedral contains a silver processional cross donated by King Manuel I of Portugal, considered one of the masterpieces of Manueline liturgical silverwork.
– The New Year fireworks in Madeira have been awarded the World Guiness Record for the Biggest Pyrotechnic Event of the World in 2006 and 2010.
– The highest point is Pico Ruivo (1 862 m), Pico das Torres (1 851 m) and Pico do Arieiro (1 818 m).
– All throughout the island are levadas, a network of water canals, built to bring water from the mountains down to the coastal areas, to irrigate the agricultural land. The network of levadas today has an impressive length of 3100 km of waterways, of which 80kms pass through tunnels and offer unique pedestrian pathways. 800 kms of these canals are being considered to qualify for inclusion in the World Heritage List.